Enterprise content management (ECM) covers a broad range of applications, including document management (DM), Web content management (WCM), records management (RM), digital asset management (DAM), search of managed content, and the like. A content management system (CMS) suitable for managing the various content items (also referred to herein in some examples as files, documents, or the like) that an enterprise produces or generates, retains or otherwise stores, manipulates or modifies, etc. can support the requirements of one or more of such applications, and optionally other requirements, to provide a coherent solution in which content and management processes are capable of accessing content across a variety of applications subject to access controls, permissions, and the like. An “enterprise” can generally refer to an organization, such as for example a business or company, a foundation, a university, or the like, and can have content requirements related to one or more business processes, content uses, etc.
A CMS manages the actual digital binary content in a content item, the metadata that describes a context of each content item, associations between a content item and other content or content items, a place and classification of a content item in a repository, indexes for finding and accessing content items, etc. The CMS can also manage processes and lifecycles of content items to ensure that this information is correct. The CMS can further manage one or more processes (e.g. business processes, workflows, or the like) for creating, capturing, storing, manipulating, editing, and distributing content items, as well as all parts of a content item lifecycle (e.g., long a content item is retained, what actions are taken after the end of a retention period, etc.).
A CMS for use in enterprise content management can include one or more of document management tools, applications, and interfaces to support general office work, search, and discovery. Workflow management capabilities of a CMS can support numerous business processes, optionally including, but not limited to, case management, review and approval, and the like. Collaboration applications and services of a CMS can support the collaborative development of information and knowledge in the creation and refinement of content and documents. Web content management services of a CMS, which can be scalable, can support the delivery and deployment of content from the enterprise to its customers. Records management capabilities of a CMS can optionally capture and preserve records based upon government-approved or other standards. A standards-based platform can also provide access to applications that use these standards, such as publishing, image management, email management, etc.
Services and controls for managing content of a CMS can include features such as metadata management, version control, lifecycle management, workflow, search, associations to other content, tagging, commenting, etc. that allow users of the CMS to find desired content items among very large content collections that can span multiple parts of an enterprise. Accuracy and consistency of the information can also be ensured, even for very large content collections across an enterprise. Content and other information in a CMS can be presented, published, etc. through the Web or any other channel appropriate to allow users to access that information.